Conversation with the teacher? TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.

[conuly]

(Although I silently lol'd (yes, I'm aware one can't do that) when she corrected me for asking to confirm she was Hispanic. "No, I'm half-Italian and half-Puerto Rican." Well, if it's so important to get your ethnic identity right (and I don't blame you!), isn't it equally important to get everybody else's right as well?)

I should've known not to continue when just about the first words (from the OTHER first grade teacher, making me feel a bit ganged up on here) were that I should talk to the principal. Seriously? I should go to your boss before talking to you? Here I am thinking it's better *not* to move things up the ladder unless you're sure of deliberate wrongdoing, but... whatever.

My real problem, and I know it, was trying to talk to people. It's not my forte. I would have been better off writing something down and editing it. Talking to people... they misunderstand and then misquote. They say one thing, and then say another and swear they never said the first. They don't do this on purpose, but they do it anyway and I always come out looking wrong. (People try to do this online as well, but much less successfully because of the way words on the screen stay on the screen. I often wish words in real life did the same thing.)

So now I'm going to take a day to think it through, what to say and how to say it (and if to say it). I think I'm pretty much committed to following this one through at this point, though. (Also, some people online suggested they may not have a choice of what books to use, in which case I'll need to talk to other people, although honestly if that's the case you'd think they'd've said so directly and saved us all several minutes of me getting shaky legs. You'd never know it from me online, but I actually don't like confrontation.)

Comment of note? When one of the two at the door (there's a third first grade teacher, but her class gets out the main entrance instead) mentioned that it "probably has to do with how history is taught". Because, y'know, those people only live in history and not in real times. (Oh, I'm sure she didn't consciously mean it, but I'm just as sure it's under there somewhere.)

Comments

[rootedinsong.livejournal.com]

Comment of note? When one of the two at the door (there's a third first grade teacher, but her class gets out the main entrance instead) mentioned that it "probably has to do with how history is taught". Because, y'know, those people only live in history and not in real times. (Oh, I'm sure she didn't consciously mean it, but I'm just as sure it's under there somewhere.)

Yeah. This is also shown by how many people always refer to Native nations in the past tense.

You should counter that by referring to actual living people (http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ is a good resource, as was mentioned).

Use me if you have to. (I identify as mixed; my mother's an enrolled member of the Mohawk nation; I am not but could be)

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

I had a terrible thought this morning (and I haven't had coffee, so take it with a grain of something). What if the reason they are teaching short-vowel Indians and Eskimos is because the horrible standardized Every Child Left Behind test has short-vowel Indians on it?!?!? I mean, if the test is culturally biased (which is almost certainly true, even if it doesn't have short-vowel Indians on it), then if they don't teach this culturally insensitive way to think about Native Americans, then the children will fail, the school will lose funding, etc. etc. etc. Plus, it is totally plausible to me that a nationwide test implemented by the Bush Administration would have short-vowel Indians on it.